Pokémon words, explained for parents
Every word here is one a child has said to you across a table. Each line is short enough to repeat back. A few are fan words that the games never print, and they carry a flag so you know.
Word of the week: Chase card
Collector slang for the one card everyone is hoping to find in a pack. It is also the card that makes some children want to open far too many packs.
All 43 words, A to Z
Ability
A passive power a Pokémon has all the time, like being unaffected by a certain type of attack. It works without anyone choosing it.
Badge
Proof that you beat a Gym Leader. Most games ask you to collect eight before the final challenge.
Base stats
Six numbers that describe how strong a kind of Pokémon is: HP, Attack, Defense, Special Attack, Special Defense and Speed.
Booster pack
A sealed pack of random cards. Nobody knows which ones are inside until it is opened, which is the whole appeal and the whole risk of overspending.
Chase card
Collector slang for the one card everyone is hoping to find in a pack. It is also the card that makes some children want to open far too many packs.
Deck
The pile of cards a player brings to a game. In the Pokémon card game a deck is 60 cards.
Ditto
A pink blob that can copy whatever Pokémon it faces. It is also the helper that makes breeding work.
Hear it: Ditto DIT-oh
Dynamax and Gigantamax
A Sword and Shield power that makes a Pokémon giant for three turns. Gigantamax is the same thing with a special look for some Pokémon.
Eeveelution
A fan name for the forms Eevee can evolve into, from Sylveon to Vaporeon. Not an official word, but nearly everyone uses it.
Hear it: Eevee EE-vee Sylveon SIL-vee-on
Egg
Some Pokémon can be bred. Two Pokémon leave an Egg, you walk around in the game until it hatches, and out comes a baby.
Elite Four
Four strong trainers you face one after another once you have your badges. Beat them and you meet the Champion.
Energy
A type of card that powers a Pokémon’s attacks in the card game. Not to be confused with the energy a Pokémon has in the video games.
Evolve
To change into a new, usually stronger form. Charmander evolving into Charmeleon is the classic example.
Hear it: Charmander CHAR-man-der Charmeleon char-MEE-lee-un
EVs and IVs
Fan shorthand for two sets of hidden numbers that slightly change a Pokémon’s stats. Only players who battle seriously worry about them.
Faint
What happens when a Pokémon loses a battle. It is knocked out for the moment, not hurt for real, and a Pokémon Center fixes it.
Graded card
A card sent to a company that scores its condition and seals it in a hard plastic case. The score affects what collectors will pay.
Gym
A building run by a Gym Leader. You beat the leader in battle to win a badge.
Held item
An object a Pokémon carries into battle. It can heal it, boost it or do something clever, but a Pokémon holds only one.
Holo
Short for holographic. A card with a shiny, light-catching finish on part of it. These are usually more sought after than plain cards.
Legendary
A very rare, very powerful Pokémon, often shown on the game’s box. You can usually catch only one of each. Mewtwo is a well-known one.
Hear it: Mewtwo MYOO-too
Level
How experienced a Pokémon is. It goes up as the Pokémon wins battles, and higher levels mean stronger stats.
Magikarp
A fish that is famously useless at first. Stay with it and it becomes Gyarados, which is not useless at all.
Hear it: Magikarp MAJ-ih-karp
Mega Evolution
A temporary, stronger form that a Pokémon takes during a battle using a Mega Stone. Mega Charizard is a favourite.
Hear it: Charizard CHAR-ih-zard
Meta
Fan slang for the Pokémon and tactics that are popular among strong players right now. It changes whenever a new game or update arrives.
Move
An attack or other action a Pokémon uses in battle, like Tackle or Flamethrower. Each Pokémon knows up to four at a time.
Mythical
Even rarer than Legendary. Many Mythical Pokémon can only be had through special events or gifts. Mew is the famous one.
Hear it: Mew MYOO
Nature
A personality that nudges two stats, one up by 10% and one down by 10%. There are 25 natures.
Pikachu
The yellow Electric-type mouse and the face of the whole franchise. It is the starter in only a few games, but everybody knows it.
Hear it: Pikachu PEE-kuh-choo
Poké Ball
The ball you throw to catch a wild Pokémon. There are many kinds, from the plain red-and-white one to fancier balls that catch better.
Pokédex
The encyclopedia of every Pokémon. In the games it fills up as you meet them. Here it is the big searchable list on this site.
Pokémon Center
A building where your team is healed for nothing. It is also where you can often save your progress.
Pseudo-legendary
A fan name for ten very strong Pokémon that are not Legendary and can be raised by anyone, such as Dragonite and Garchomp. The games never use this word.
Hear it: Dragonite DRAG-uh-nite Garchomp GAR-chomp
Raid
A big battle where several players team up against one very strong Pokémon. It exists in both the main games and Pokémon GO.
Rare
A card that turns up less often in packs than the ordinary ones. A marking on the card tells you how rare it is.
Regional form
The same Pokémon in a different region, with a different look and sometimes a different type. Alolan Vulpix is Ice type, for example, while ordinary Vulpix is Fire.
Hear it: Vulpix VUL-piks
Shiny
A rare alternate colour of an ordinary Pokémon, with a little sparkle when it appears. Finding one is chance, and children treat it like winning a prize.
Starter
The first Pokémon you are given, picked from three. They are always Grass, Fire and Water, which makes a little triangle of who beats whom.
Hear it: Bulbasaur BUL-buh-sor Charmander CHAR-man-der Squirtle SKWUR-tul
Tera
Short for Terastallization, a Scarlet and Violet power. A Pokémon covers itself in crystal and can change type for the rest of the battle, once per battle.
Trainer
The player, and anyone in the stories who catches and raises Pokémon. Your child is a trainer when they play.
Trainer card
In the card game this is a kind of card, such as an item or a helper, not a person. The word Trainer means something different in the video games.
Type
A Pokémon’s element, such as Fire, Water or Grass. There are 18 types and a Pokémon has one or two.
Type advantage
When one type hits another extra hard. Water against Fire is “super effective” and does double damage. Some pairings are “not very effective” and some do nothing at all.
VGC
The Pokémon Video Game Championships, the official competitive scene. Fans use the letters for the format and the events.
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